This is values-based branding.

Grassroots organizing can galvanize collective action well beyond the realm of politics. It’s all about rallying a diverse group of individuals around core values they can all agree upon. When an organization peels away everything except its true reason for existence, what’s left is powerful enough to unite an entire community. This is values-based branding.

We did not hold back when writing the New Roads School’s brand manifesto. And our thought partners on campus — armed with convictions and a steadfast commitment to their mission — didn’t shy away from broadcasting a powerful message. How often do schools talk about “disrupting systems of inequality”? That’s why we named the manifesto Commitments Booklet. Unlike any viewbook or recruitment material DISTINC_ has produced before, it pairs 10 potent images with 10 forceful statements, declared — fittingly — in the single voice of “We the people of New Roads.”

The first Commitment reads: "We the people of New Roads liberate human potential." Crucial to the idea of liberation is the pursuit of “justice, equity, and opportunity” in education. A just world can only exist when we create equitable communities, which can only occur when individuals from every background gain access to opportunities through which to elevate themselves and others.

Other commitments interpret deeply-held values of intellectual diversity, social justice, equity, inclusion and authentic diversity, free expression, empathy and compassion, joy and curiosity in learning, balancing structure and freedom in education, as well as graduating individuals of courageous character.

"Bold leadership” is as cliche as cliche gets. But a term only becomes cliche when it has been overused, or used incorrectly. In the case of bold leadership, that’s too bad, because there really are individuals living up to the authentic charge of that phrase every day. New Roads' Head of School Luthern Williams is one of those people. He struck a balance of vision and flexibility throughout our work: the vision to strongly articulate their core mission; and the flexibility to empower novel ways to express that mission. Bravo Luthern!